Shopping Handmade For The Holiday Season Means A Lot To Me

It never ceases to amaze me that so many people have purchased items from me that were once only an idea in my sketch book. Buying local and buying handmade allows people like me continue to provide handmade goods that people can enjoy knowing that a small business can thrive in this economy.

I'm so excited to be partnering with Etsy for their #UnwrapEtsy celebration this holiday season! Here is a small selection of items from my shop www.pennyglassgirl.etsy.com featuring fun, functional gift ideas:

Remember These?

Hello! Just thought I would FINALLY update my progress on my new hand painted pendants that I posted about in this post waaaaay back in February! I have been so busy getting things organized and finnished on the home front, that I just couldn't get my act together to list them in my shop.

Well, without further ado, here they are:

Ta da!

Just for fun, I've kept the sale going for facebook and twitter friends:) Simply enter SPRING2013 for 20% off all week.

xxoo Penny

Studio Re-do: Inspiration

Today is day two of my studio makeover! Yesterday, I posted my before pics. While I have been hard at work since then, I thought I would pop in and post some pictures that I've been collecting for inspiration.

I found them all on Pinterest: I love the ceiling colour here, the ceiling in my room is a little too low, but if it were higher, I wold be doing this:

Picture found here

I love pretty much everything about the photo below. I'm so looking forawrd to organizing my supplies and having the right storage solutions for everything:

Picture found here.

Finally, I love the fold out table below. It won't be part of my studio makeover this time, I'm very attached to my old desk as it's an old family piece, I think that this idea will be used somewhere in my home one day:

Picture found here.

xxoo Penny

Happy Thanksgiving Sale!

This Thanksgiving weekend is so special to me. I have struggled with many obstacles this year, but in the end, I realize that I have SO MUCH to be thankful for. Thanks to all that have supported me and my business in 2012:)

BIG THANKSGIVING SALE: use coupon code FRIENDS2012 to get 25% off everything in my shop.

A Fine Mess This Weekend

Today, I woke up to find this mess on my dining room table:

It seems that my two boys were up early and had the sudden need to decorate the bird houses that a neighbour gave them almost a year ago. Although, I didn't relish the idea of cleaning up, I was happy to see that they were productive and not seated in front of the TV or computer. And hey, I was able to sleep in on what seems like the first saturday in history when we didn't have to wake up and make a mad dash for the hockey rink, the ski hill or some other such activity. AND they thought to use placemats!

A few hours later, and I had another mess to clean up (this time my own):

Since it really feels like a holiday on this lazy saturday, I decided not to do any work, but to make a few beaded bracelets for myself with beads that I have been meaning to use for a while:

So far, it's been a pretty fine day, hope your weekend is lovely too. xxoo Penny

Just Thinking.......About Sylvia Plath

I was doing some research on a writing project lately, and came across this poem by Sylvia Plath. How it brought me back to my school days....... I know it's not exactly the "love and hearts" type of Valentine's day themed goodness I shared the other day, but a reminder of just how it feels to be in love, or to have lost love, or to feel the madness of love.

I love the haunting melody of the poem and how it expresses the emptiness and sadness of the subject so clearly. Sigh.

Thought I would Share:

Mad Girl's Love Song

I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;
I lift my lids and all is born again.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)
The stars go waltzing out in blue and red,
And arbitrary blackness gallops in:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed
And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)
God topples from the sky, hell's fires fade:
Exit seraphim and Satan's men:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
I fancied you'd return the way you said,
But I grow old and I forget your name.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)
I should have loved a thunderbird instead;
At least when spring comes they roar back again.
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)”
― Sylvia Plath

FREE for Black Friday!!!!!

Hello, Happy Black Friday!

I'm thrilled to post my Black friday Sale HERE. Right now in my shop, everything is 15% - no exceptions, Yay! In adddition to my storewide sale, I'm offering a FREE gift to all Facebook fans, twitter followers and Blog friends. Just write "friend" in the "notes to seller section" so I know it's you.

When you purchase any item im my store, I'll send a free pair of resin and sterling silver earrings. The choices are pictured here, if you like, let me know which ones you would like with your order, if I don't see a note, I'll surprise you:)

Thanks so much and have a wonderful shopping day, Penny.

New In The Shop.

I have been working away in the studio this week getting ready for the hollidays. I could use a little cheering up these days, so I focused on creating a new line of cuddly creadture pendants in really bright translucent glass. So fun!

Come by and take a look, if you like, enter BLOGVISIT in the coupon code section at checkout and get FREE Shipping. Penny

In The Studio - Finding Inspiration in Experimentation and Making Mistakes

I have an Inspiration Board in my studio that most often looks just like I imagine the inside of the artsy side of my brain - choatic, colourful and fun.



To tack up all my little snipets of inspiration, I have taken to using discarded pieces of glass which I turn into magnets. These pieces are often the ones which never made it into production becasue they didn't turn out how I expected, or have tiny flaws that just don't pass my quality standards.



It's funny, but for little misteps and mistakes, I find it interesting that they seem to be the pieces everyone gravitates toward when they visit. I've come to realize that they each have little stories of their own to tell. Like the time I learned that trying to get a little more kiln time and speeding up some firing cycles means that you can essentially throw away $50 in glass (patience, patience) or the time I realized that pink flowers on a cobalt background makes lovely peonies look like dread grey, lifelless ghost plants (not the cheerful spring look I was going for).

I have tried selling magents from time to time and it never seems to work out the way I planned, but for now I realize that these little pieces of failled experiments help me connect to people who take an interest in my work. I often send them away with friends and customers, and it's nice to know that they want to share part of my process and love that buying from me means buying from a real person who experiments and sometimes fails.

In The Studio Today

I'm back in my studio today making merry and getting back to what I love - making tiny pieces of glass with colourful-goodness.

I have been attempting to make my work life a little more focused in order to get more out of my very limited work-time buget. In order to make sure I get the most out of my studio time, I have been religious about planning my work, sourcing all my materials ahead of time and DOCUMENTING everything.

I thought I might share a little bit of my process lately, some inside the scenes pics of my notebooks.



I have been using penceil and paper sketches mostly to plan out my layout an get a basic colour story going before I cut glass. It doesn't always stay true to the story when I start working with the glass, but I find it best to have a solid starting point to avoid total disasters.



Here, I keep fighting with finding the "right" green (which always seems to be a difficult colour for me) I'm still tweaking it.



A successful colour test. Although the colours between the paper and glass don't always translate, sometimes the final result is fairly close to the original idea.

I promise I'll be back to this space soon to update you on my progress. For now, it's back to the studio for me:)

Letting Go

Just let it go art print , HoneyBoo

Ok, confession time. I am not good at letting go.

If I feel like I haven't done something perfectly, or worse, if I feel like I have failed at something, I can't seem to tell myself, "oh well, better luck next time". Instead, I sit and stew and brood or abandon an idea althogether.

Take this blog for example. I love to post here, and when I started my "new things" project, I was even more excited. I loved the chalenge of pushing myself out of my comfort zone and doing something new. But as soon as I started messing up, missing a day here and there, or hitting an obstacle (like not being perfect at something I tried), I stopped.

I don't know why I'm like this. I think part of it is personality: I'm stubborn, I'm a perfectionist, I work hard because I don't know any other way, I expect a lot from myself. So why, I have been asking myself, do I beat myself up about it? I like these qualities about myself, in fact, I think that all these traits have lead to great success over the years - both personally and professionally.

After months of brooding and contemplation, I think I have found the answer, I need to LET THINGS GO. I need to start now. I need to be able to fail, learn from it, and move on.

So, I think I'm ready to continue with my New Things Porject today. My new thing, beginning to LET GO, forgive myself and see what is really important in life.



Just Let It Go by Jessica Simanowski

Try Something New Day 3

Day Three of my Try Something New Project was spent with my youngest little boy in his Dalcroze Eurhythmics music class in our wonderful neighbourhood music school for parent participation day.



The Dalcroze method is a creative approach to learning music through body movements and by going to the class, something I normally couldn't do when I was working outside of my own business, I was able to participate first-hand in something I would otherwise just heard about.

It was really interesting to see how the teacher could focus a group of four year olds on such big tasks, such as learning rythm, tempo, ear-traing etc., using something that is more familiar to them - moving their bodies. It was also cool to see that my once shy little guy is coming out of his shell and is actually taking on a leadership roles. Sweet.

Here are some additional links for Dalcroze Eurhythmics:

http://www.dalcrozeusa.org/
https://www.msu.edu/user/thomasna/

I'll be back Monday with something New!

HOLIDAYS ARE COMING SALE

In order to celebrate the upcoming holiday season, my BIG SALE begins today. Everything in Penny Glass Girl has free worldwide shipping until November 30th. In addition, blog followers, facebook fans and twitter friends get an additional 10% off this week.

Just mention "friend" in the notes section when you checkout and I will refund the difference! Thanks to all my friends, customers and inspiriational peeps for making this year so fun for Penny Glass Girl.

New At Penny Shop Girl.

I have been strangely quite on the blog front this week I realize, but I have a good excuse. I have been working away on new designs and shopping quite a bit too (shh, don't tell my husband).

I pronmise I will be back to my regular musings soon, maybe even a contest next week, so look back.

In the meantime, here a few new designs at Penny Shop Girl!

I LOVE BACK TO SCHOOL!

First Day Of School, First Day Of School!!!!!!!!!

Oops, did I say that out loud? Yes, I do love back to school, and my kids do too (for now, they're still young). But I have to admit, I never did lose my entusiasm for fall, autumn colours, warmer clothes and new school supplies.

In honour of this fabulous occaision - and because I happen to know the most talented designer in the world - I have a brand new look on my etsy site to go along with all my new goodies. I will be integrating it into my blog soon too, but for now, it's beyond my technical skills :)

Thanks so much to Carolyn Houston, designer extrodinaire, for her hard work. Penny Glass Girl has never been so glamourous!

My new fall line, which is being rolled out on my Etsy site, and in various retail locations, was designed with my memories of autumn and all that it inspires. Think warm colours, natural textures and all the organic materials that I could think of including: glass, wood, and hemp. Being me, I couldn't forget the fun and playfullness either - a whole new lot of bright and fun colours have poped up too.

Because I love fall sooo much, please mention my blog when you order, and I will include free shipping and gift wrapping.

Thanks for taking time to consider my work, more to come soon!

New This Week!

New to my etsy shop this week, I have listed some pieces from my

signature series. These feature my fused glass pendants together

with semi-precious or new and rare beads. I have

been haiving fun taking a break from my summer line and revisitng some pieces to see what new things I can create: Just like my kids with lego.

BLOG SPECIAL: Just for friends and subscribersto this blog, you can get free shipping when you purchase anything from Penny Glass Girl. This includes my Etsy site and my NEW Dawanda site.

P.S. If you combine this offer with the one listed in my shop sepcial section on etsy - you can also receive a free 16" chain (with purchase of three items)!

http://www.pennyglassgirl.etsy.com/

Bubbles are Fun

I've been doing these small stained glass pieces on my etsy site, the series is entitled, "Bubbles".

It has been great to dabble in stained glass again after a break whileI have concentrated on fusing. I forgot how fun soldering is - an how hot, ouch!

It's fun to see the all the different ways I can design within the same confines. Each piece has been very different.

Made it into a treasury today!

I'm having fun with some new summer colours and today I was included in a treasury on etsy! I'm so glad that someone else appreciates the way I use colour because I'm having way too much fun playing in my studio lately (the laundry is piled up and threatning to escape!). Oh well, only so many hours in the day!

Here's the link! http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=10134

Working Mom Gets Through IT!

Ok, I don't like to complain, but this week was a little challenging! Two sick kids (one with the chicken pox, one with the flu), but I managed to get through it and still get a little new work in! Yay, chaulk one up for working moms everywhere!

Although, sleep deprived, I managed to post some exciting new items on my etsy site. Including some new dichroic pendants (so deep and glittery!) and new fused glass items including bookmarks, wine stops and keychains.